Authorities warn residents that extreme conditions could pose risks and urge people to stay away from flooded areas.
Residents of the northeastern United States are facing a northeaster, a powerful storm commonly known as nor’easter, that has knocked out power and caused flooding across the region.
The New York City Housing Authority said on Saturday one of its employees was killed by a fallen tree in Brooklyn, as the storm battered the city with rain and strong winds.
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About 425 flights have been cancelled and 3,016 delayed as of 9:50pm Eastern Standard Time (01:50 GMT), according to data from the flight tracker FlightAware.
The storm also led to power outages affecting nearly 73,000 homes and businesses as of Saturday night local time. That figure is down from a high of 119,000 earlier in the day.
Concerts and sporting events were also cancelled, including musician Ed Sheeran’s scheduled shows in the state of Massachusetts on Friday and Saturday.
Bob Oravec, lead forecaster with the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland, said the storm is likely to persist, with “a lot of high winds, a lot of high tides and heavy rain possibility over the next few days for the northeastern US”.
Earlier on Friday, the governors of New York and New Jersey had declared states of emergency in counties expected to see the worst of the storm, including New York.
Authorities have also warned residents about the risks of flooding and high tides, cautioning people to stay away from the beach and areas inundated with water.
“Anyone who goes in or near the water this weekend is literally gambling with their life,” New York Governor Kathy Hochul said.
Despite the warnings, people have been seen kayaking down flooded streets in Long Island, New York, while others took advantage of large swells in Hampton, New Hampshire.
“In all the canals, the water is up really high and coming into people’s back yards,” Jay Boyd, a resident of Ocean City, Maryland, told The Associated Press news agency.
Oravec said nor’easters are not unusual as the region of New England enters the autumn season, but that “this might be a little earlier than average for a big storm”.